Some time ago I was called to partecipate at the intersting project born from aBruno Aliprandi idea, (informatic responsable at the Accademia di Brera) involving the “Metropolitane ATM di Milano“ and the “Politecnico di Milano“ in partnership with The sim of “Imparafacile“ – Learning Project (Imparafacile Runo aka Giovanni Dalla Bona) with the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in collaboration with the Municipality of Milan, ATM and the master named MIND (London Network for Design) with prof. Ezio Cuoghi.
I am working here as artist and structural builder on this project in line with my targets to look for a good link between Virtual Worlds and Real Life, because I am sure this is the most important step we are going to reach next years with Technologies developping and Social-Creative comunications.
This really intersting experiment was studing the chance to put real installations into the Metro Stations in the city of Milan, such as Porta Venezia and later in Porta Garibaldi, in Italy this kind of projects are so few, so I feel really proud to have been called to take part of it as a pioneer. These installations boxes with monitors and connected computers will be able to let interact travelling citizens to the virtual worlds reality, and to see meetings, art students working, ect.
My part, was to plan a complex project structure to give space, expo areas and auditorium place into the Second Life area, so that become a real social media network. I want to thanks also Dixit Writer, called for the scripts develop of interactive installations to show the art works.

The virtual art arrives in the real world. After a thousand times spoken of as situations, environments, real creations are finished sublimated into virtual reality, now it is the virtual is taking a little revenge. Starting from today, in one of the main stations of Milan, Porta Venezia, commuters can enjoy the city on a screen set up for the occasion, a video that presents a rotating series of artistic photos from Second Life.

Behind this unusual project is the Brera Academy of Fine Arts (in collaboration with the Municipality of Milan, the Milan Triennale and Adi – Association for Industrial Design) at the end of April 2010 has opened a second level master named MIND (London Network for Design), under the direction of prof. Ezio Cuoghi. The Master with the aim of training new professionals able to design artistic works, cultural and service in the fields and in the relational spaces of a city, combining the expertise on new technologies to the creative and artistic aesthetic of new languages. Here, then, that the Academy of Fine Arts in Milan has shown an uncommon breadth of vision, particularly through the opening in this sense the IT manager Bruno Aliprandi, motor initiative, which saw new potential in Second Life and an art world still little regarded by the media but actually very rich and vibrant. After a series of lessons that have students in the metaverse Judah, is therefore the first results. Metro will be visible on the screen shots within the virtual world and then retouched with specific graphics programs is that of students Mind virtual artists ‘pure’ well-known in the art world of Second Life, in a stimulating comparison between sensitivity art. But it is only the first step of a project much wider. In September, a similar initiative will be involved with the underground station of Porta Garibaldi, while other initiatives will take the direction of interactivity and dell’immersività with repercussions both in the real world in the virtual world. The contact person for the project within Second Life is Imparafacile Runo, trainer for years using the Metaverse as a platform for e-learning. His is the island (Imparafacile Island) made available to students of the Master. Beside him the Mayo Merlin builder who’s working environment for meetings and exhibitions for the gallery and Free Art of the undersigned for advice on virtual artists.

With a little ‘delay with respect to certain foreign reality more careful, we can therefore say that finally even in Italy the art virtual begins to arouse some curiosity outside of the environments in which it is born. After the exhibition Michelangelo architect in Rome, which saw the City of Rome sponsor a window into the Metaverse with an installation dedicated to designs by Michelangelo, and Viareggio Art Project, in collaboration with the Museum of Metaverse with Museums of Villa Pauline Bonaparte in Viareggio, so here is that through the Milan Brera Accedemia became aware of that offer exciting possibilities for experimentation in new media, giving new life to contemporary art.”

Artist interested in the relation of Art between the Virtual and the Real World, starts into virtual worlds to find a synthesis, and a symbolic alphabet to be used as a starting point to create a score always different but recognizable. The Nature, the Human being, Technology, Architecture, Mythology, Fractal Math, Processing, CyberArt, Futurism, Pop Art, Pop Surrealism, Street Art and the contrast with real decadent romantic atmospheres, are main sources of inspiration. Interactions with structures and visitors are important.

My exploration of Second Life began in April 2007, and from the start I found myself identifying with experimental builder. I spent a great deal of time learning and sharing building knowledge, first at the Skybeam Sandbox, and later (from 2007-08) on sim Lupulinus (closed in the end of 2008), and at ZigZag still active, and in 2009 at 2Lifecast HUB project, working on various terraforming and structural projects, focussing on the study of the virtual reproduction of natural forms, the perception of colors in movement, the creation of complete avatars and experimenting with inworld snapshots and graphic.

Spring-Summer/2007 Firsts Art Moving Sculptures

5 June 2007 Born of Xaan Allen my female Alt Symbiont Avatar *written in her profile “Every act of creation is first an act of destruction”
Pablo Picasso

1/2008 First study for a complex art installation, a travel on sky planes through colors and shadows related to the ancient history concepts.

3/2009 I joined the “Hub Creativo” group as a builder and graphics designer, working on complex structures.
Hub Creativo was in partnership with RL Province of Milan, Italy, and was located on sim (2lifecast) – Adpocalypse.

I later built a number of media-related structures including auditoriums, an exhibition hall based on Fractal develop and Pop Surrealism concept, an experimental modular trail, a large completely avatar-accessible installation based on Escher’s “Waterfall”, and a faithful 3D reproduction of an optical illution – the Penrose stairs, impossible objects.

I have also been closely involved in a number of events and scenography sets, workshops and conference series, including “Earthquake – the day after” ( earthquake in Abruzzo, Italy) the series “Lessons in Modern Physics”, “Right and Virtual”, “Social Dreaming Psychocity” and so on. All in streamed web live.

06/2009
With my 90×50 meters installation “Magna Mater 2.0” I won first prize in “Calling for Creativity 2.0” an Art competition presented also at the two day conference ‘Ars in Ara’ which was broadcasted live in RL on National Italian RAI television NET from the Ara Pacis in Rome, Italy, June 5.6 2009.

The competition called for an artistic interpretation of the concept Web 2.0, and Giovanni dalla Bona delivered a talk (in Italian) on the subject of creativity and the methodologies of both formal and informal training in Second Life, available at http://vimeo.com/5126167 – you can see Magna Mater at the very end of the video.
With Magna Mater, I began experimenting with modified sounds and structures that react to the presence and movement of avatars.

09/2009. I built a movable auditorium structure used for “Scienze on the road” an inworld project that travels around 30 Italian sims with science-related shows and discussions, in partnership with the groups as Second Physics, streamed over the web by 2lifecast. We also participate in RL conferences in various Italian cities, for example at Venice http://barcamp.org/veneziacamp2009, explaining the opportunities for learning and creativity that Second Life offers. In a big tour with more than 32 nights events in different sims.

10/2009 Began experimenting with terraforming, with an emphasis on creating a natural looking environment, and showing my experimental sound installations at a number of art collectives.

11/11/2009
Complete the Auditorium in the Estonia Embassy Official SIM and Brain2Brain organisation. (B2B is not still active in SLife from some months in the 2010)
A collaborative work with the artist Arcana Jansma, the provvisory Structure with wave sits, lights, platform and art sculptures for the “Edgar Morin interview” – Meet the Media Guru – in Milan Live Streaming from Theatre “Dal Verme”. Present in-world Prince Paskua french international artist.http://brain2brain.ning.com/profiles/blogs/11-novembre-2009-ore-1915-b2b

EL MENTUM One of my most representatives and complex works I ever done, a big installation partecipating at the “RINASCIMENTO METAVERSO” Show – 30 Jan 2010 – presented in Benvolio at CARP (Virtual Cinetic & Cybernetic Art in the Second Life Metaverse Infrastructure) a Collective Show with italian artists. The Structure was a travel into the Elements through dream visions and simbols, into complete immersive spaces.

Creation of the final event “The War of the Elements” that closed the whole Show, a performance with different outfits own created, rezzer, sculptures, ect. with visitors directly involved into the battle space.

15/02/2010 Pirats – Patrick Moya – Carnaval Virtuel de Nice 2010 – Second Life and Real Life.
Partecipation with many artists from all around the world. I made a giant jellyfish-Outfit sculpture-avatar made of blue pixels. First Virtual Carnival from SLife to Real Life. Into the SIM of Patrick Moya with Live Stream into the Real Life Festival at Nice (France) http://www.moyacircus.com/newmoya.htm

01/04/2010
Into the big event of Global Mixed Reality Exhibition (Virtual art Galleries and Real Life Galleries all around the world at the same time) of the Art of Virtual Worlds called “Through the Virtual Looking Glass”. CARP is one of six exhibitions being held in six countries: France (Nice), Holland (Amsterdam), Germany, Brazil, Australia, and the USA (Boston)

12-6-2010 “Merlino Mayo (Italy) & Abstract Baroque (UK) each took home the $L20,000 prizes for winning the inaugural Scien@Art Physics 2010 Competition, challenging all of Second Life to create 3D art objects incorporating Physics principles across a number of categories, Atom, String Theory, Nanotechnology, Big Bang, Electricity and Atom.”

…Work on a Project with Imparafacile group, with the Accademia di Brera (North-Italy) and ATM transports (Milan-Italy) Metro. Articles about this project are on Virtual Worlds Magazine….my first step project presentation in voice with wall screen into the class at Brera with my alt Symbiont: Xaan Allen

Show at Pirats on 23th November 2010 with my friend Mikati Slade in the outside space of Omega – my work installation was dedicated to Andy Warhol and Pop Art music “The Andy’s Last Supper” by Merlino Mayoalt (Xaan Allen)

25 June 2011 – Show “Light & Gravity” at Caerleon in Real Life at Boston with interviews Live with public in the Boston Art Institute, presented by presented by Jason Pramas (aka Sunseeker Miklos), Gary Zabel (aka Georg Janick) and Martha Jane Bradford (aka Alizarin Goldflake).

My Artwork installation is “The Cage” 3rd of Series CUBICUS 3/3.

26 August 2011 – Come out an Article written by Simona Lamonaca about Virtual Art related to Real Life on VOGUE (Italy edition) newspaper with my photo about my installation work in Second Life that I did for the Brera Academy and ATM transports in Milan and presented in RAI television in december 2010. In the article and illustrations the mentioned artists are: Bryn Oh, Rose Borchovski, Peter Greenaway, Merlino Mayo, Cutea Benelli and Blotto Epsilon.